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Native and non-native reptiles feeling the stress of Colorado floods

HELP A REPTILE. A snake makes its way underneath a washed-out piece of concrete near the South Platte River along County Road 61, northeast of Kersey in Weld County. Native species, non-native species and pets have all been affected by flooding along the Front Range. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

As executive director of the Colorado Reptile Humane Society, Ann-Elizabeth Nash hears some odd stories, but the post-flood call that began "I've got this black and yellow lizard in our window well" topped most of them.

"I knew she was talking about a tiger salamander that was probably trying to get to higher ground and dropped into what was, for a tiger salamander, a pitfall trap," Nash said.

A Western tiger salamander. (AP file photo)

"We told her to leave it there, that it'd be fine. She said, 'Well, it's not just the one.' So she had four window wells, and one had 10 tiger salamanders, and the next one had eight plus a couple of toads. I was imagining tiger salamanders tromping up to her backyard: 'Please, give us dry land!' "

The call was one of dozens that Nash has received since the September floods began along the Front Range, a volume that more than doubled the normal monthly traffic to Nash's Colorado Reptile Humane Society.

Some calls were from people who didn't know what to do about the strange snake or turtle that showed up in their yard, or on nearby roads. Others were from people begging her to take the exotic pet reptiles that weren't allowed in shelters or temporary housing.

The floodwaters washed native reptiles from their winter hibernation sites, said Tina Jackson, species conservation coordinator for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

"We do see reptile and amphibian migrations. Both groups hibernate, and they may have to move between summer habitats and winter/hibernation sites," Jackson said. Floods can interfere with migration patterns.

A red-eared slider. (AP file photo)

And Jackson was unsurprised by the report of tiger salamanders in window wells, where they often take refuge in times of stress.

Though turbulent waters washed both reptiles and amphibians away from their home ranges, aquatic creatures "probably appreciate the extra water," Jackson said. She expects that native wildlife will either find a new appropriate habitat or make their way back upstream.

Non-native species, like the box turtle, may not recover as easily.

"A box turtle lives in the same place, an area the size of five to 10 football fields, for its entire life. They just don't move successfully. They walk to find something familiar, and get hit by cars," she said. "If you pick up a box turtle you find in Nebraska and move it to Colorado, it's highly likely to die."

The red-eared slider, another rescue that's not a Colorado native, may have washed out of a backyard pond or tank. If nobody claims the red-eared slider, it will be put up for adoption, like other non-native reptiles that arrive at Colorado Reptile Humane Society.

"We've already released the snapping turtles, because we have lakes and ponds we can legally put them into, thanks to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, now that the water is down far enough to get to a release site," Nash said.

"The flood delayed some of our other releases, so we really had some wildlife backed up," Nash said. "We can take in reptiles that are flood evacuees, but we won't be able to take in more surrendered reptiles until sometime next month."

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